Small Problems, Little Secrets
by Abe Lincoln Lover
Summary: After witnessing Kaitou Kid being held at gunpoint by Snake, Aoko's life falls into disrepair - and when her substitute teacher gets pulled into the mess, everything takes an even greater turn for the worse.
1. Chapter 1

**Little Problems, Small Secrets**

Prologue – Aoko

Every day there was the same routine – every day was identical to the one before it. I would wake up in the morning, ready myself for the day, and then begin the short walk to school. Usually Kaito would join me, but some days he was late, and others he just didn't show up to school. On the days he _did_ join me, he would tease me mercilessly about this and that, from how my hair looked to the clothes that I wore. Curiously enough, those days were the ones I enjoyed the most.

On those days, we would walk into the classroom together and he would suddenly vanish from my side. I don't know where he goes – nor do I care – but all that matters is that he disappears. When I finally sit down at my desk, he reappears – and that's when he strikes.

Something to remember when you deal with Kaito is that he is, no matter what anyone says, a great magician. He can do any trick you can think of – pretend he's someone else (voice _and _appearance), juggle anything and everything, make any card appear on demand, and more. His dad taught him a lot, but he learned most of it himself.

Now, most of the time I love his tricks, but when it's at that time in the routine, I despise them above anything else. He, on the other hand, apparently enjoys the embarrassment he causes me. Using his beloved magic, he attempts – and succeeds – to surprise me with any number of pranks (the most memorable would be when he turned my desk into a frog) and, in that moment, takes a quick look to see what colour my underwear is. Of course, he never gets in trouble since it happens so often that the teacher has gotten used to it.

Afterwards, I would chase him around with a mop or broom and try to land a hit on him. I never would win the fight, but that's not because I'm slow or anything – he's just really fast and smart. He can determine how and where I'm going to strike seconds before I actually do.

When I'm tired of that – Kaito has some type of never-ending energy that allows him to stay up and moving for as long as he wants – I resort to insults. I make fun of him; he makes fun of me, and so on and so forth. This part in the daily ritual occurs even if I can't find a weapon, and so do all the other parts afterwards.

Everything settles down when he disappears. I go back to my desk – and don't get in trouble – and the teacher goes back to teaching the lesson. Similar to what I said earlier, I don't care about where he goes. What I wonder about is _why_ he leaves, since he's actually supposed to be in the same class with me for that period.

The same thing happens every day (give or take a few variables), and while I know that _I'm _taking it all seriously, I have to wonder about Kaito. Does he think that it's all a game, where the outcome just doesn't really matter, as long as he comes out on top?

Chapter 1

It was a normal day (normal as being defined in the Prologue) and all the students at Ekoda High School were getting ready to head off to school. Well, all minus one, who was still lying in bed, fast asleep.

This boy was named Kuroba Kaito. He was a skilled magician and excellent at executing any type of prank. Also, he was the son of Kuroba Chikage and Kuroba Toichi (a professional magician who died eight years before). Oh, Kaito was also the infamous Kaitou Kid.

Ah, that situation of his was pretty sticky. Nine months ago, he had discovered a secret room in his house that stored quite a number of crazy gadgets and the costume of a popular criminal named Kaitou Kid. He had decided to don the outfit and continue the job that had been left for him.

Kaitou Kid was a thief that employed magic tricks to steal his targets. He dressed in a flashy white suit with a billowing cape and top hat. Often he would send notices to the police telling when and where he was going to strike next. However, the most puzzling aspect of him was that he always returned the objects he stole. No exceptions.

Kid had disappeared from the headlines eight years ago. Everyone had been confused by this – some wondered if the police had quietly arrested him while others thought he had just retired from his illegal activities. The one man that knew the most about the criminal brushed off all these ideas, becoming more and more suspicious as the years ticked by that something _bad _had happened to him.

This smart man was one Nakamori Ginzo, head of the Kaitou Kid police task force. He was the longest serving member of the team, as he had been chasing Kid since his first appearance twenty years ago. Through the years of Kid's absence, he had stayed in his small office at the police station and devoted most of his time to researching the criminal's background. When Kid had come back on the scene, he had noticed something was off the moment he heard him speak. For some strange reason, he knew that it wasn't the same guy that had appeared years before.

As it was, he was right. There were, in fact, two Kaitou Kids – father and son. Kaito's father – Kuroba Toichi – had been the original, and had been killed by a mysterious organization for not assisting them in achieving their goal. This organization was made of murderers and assassins, and pretty much everything they did was illegal. The goal itself was almost sketchier than the group after it.

Their target was a gemstone called "Pandora". This Pandora jewel was actually gem inside another gem, and when held up to the moon during the time Comet Volley passed overhead, it would cry "tears" of immortality. The organization had hired Toichi to find it, but when he found out that they were a giant horde of murderers, he refused to help them and set about finding it himself, meaning to destroy it. Of course, with them being murderers and all, Toichi was dead within two months of his betrayal.

This being said, Kaito found this out eight years later and decided to continue his father's mission to rid the world of Pandora. While the heists in themselves were fun and full of adrenaline, the real price to pay was the lies.

He had to lie to everyone, even his own mother (he was pretty sure she knew he was Kid, but he had to make up some quick fibs when she asked him if he was okay). He lied to his friends – and one in particular hurt the most to lie to. She was his best friend, and while they never kept anything from each other before, this was one secret that he couldn't let her in on. She was, after all, Nakamori Aoko, daughter of the inspector chasing after him.

Every day she would come in to school with an angry look on her face, determined to yell at the next person who supported the criminal. Her father's life was devoted to capturing him – weekends, holidays, birthdays, and vacations alike were ruined when one of the infamous notices dropped by the police station. Aoko had had to grow up without either one of her parents (her mother had died when she was three), and for that, she despised the thief.

However, not everyone was unfortunate enough to suffer through these circumstances. Most of the rest of the world would gather at the place of the thievery and cheer Kid on. This disgusted Aoko, who had inherited some of her father's police genes and wondered why and how everyone could be so supportive of these illegal acts.

What really annoyed her, though, was the fact that the Kaitou Kid could just smile and laugh whenever he saw Nakamori-keibu. Her father was a good man who was putting in blood, sweat and tears to have the other man arrested, and all he did was mock him! The very idea made her want to rip Kid into tiny pieces – after she removed that silly monocle he wore as a flimsy disguise and found out who he was, of course.

So it was on this day when Kaito was sleeping in, almost certainly to be late to school. The minutes ticked by; in fifty minutes school would start... now thirty... twenty minutes to go... ten minutes were all that's left –

The seventeen year old shot up like a rocket. He flew around his house, devouring his breakfast as he dressed and coughing it up as he brushed his teeth. Running out the door, he sprinted down the road and reached the school in record time.

There were two more minutes until school officially started. He casually sidestepped a few of his fellow students who were lingering in the hallways and made his way to Classroom 2B.

The bell rang as he opened the door and grinned. Through the midst of all the uniformed students he could see an unfamiliar face. Either they had a substitute, or there was a new student. It was going to prove to be an interesting day no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kaito grinned into the classroom, lighting up the entire area. There had been a small debacle in the corner of the room that included a couple of the girls, but as soon as they had seen the boy, all arguments were instantly forgotten. He was like that, which was part of the reason most of the girls in his class had a crush on him – he just had this cool, calming presence about him that nobody else had. Well, nobody except a certain Hakuba Saguru, but even he was no match for Kaito.

A woman who looked like she was in her mid sixties stepped to the front of the classroom and attempted to quiet the noise as she threw an angry look at the boy. He walked, bouncing slightly, to his seat, where he plopped himself down and innocently stared back at her. Yes, this was going to be fun.

The lady looked away suddenly, and Kaito took this moment to store away "important" information about her. She was blonde with brown eyes, and judging by her voice when she was trying to calm down the ruckus, she was British. All the Europeans he knew were annoying (Hakuba), smart-alecks (Hakuba), violent (that one police inspector... his name was forgotten by Kaito), or just plain creepy (Hakuba and the little blonde girl that was friends with Kudo). He was disliking her more and more every second. That was fine with him, though – it would be easier to pick on her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hakuba giving him the Look. He blinked at him and cocked his head as if to say, "What? Me? I would never be a jerk to a substitute! How dare you even think such a thing!" The boy didn't buy it, and giving up, shook his head and returned back to paying attention to the temporary teacher.

Speaking of which, she was telling the class about herself now. While Kaito really didn't care about her at all, he could learn some information about her that would come in handy one day. Inspired by that, he allowed himself to give his attention to her.

"Good morning, students. I am Kimiko Emi, and I will be your teacher for today since, as you all can see, your teacher is not here today," she smiled. Kaito gagged at her attempt at a joke. Taking no notice of that, she continued, "Since it appears she left no instructions for me and I cannot get in contact with her, we will be completing a project I found buried all the way under her papers. I hope I'm right in assuming you all know how to write a letter, so I guess you all can just get started right away. Have fun!"

The "elderly" woman (though she is only forty-one, she will be referred to as elderly since she looks so old for her age) started handing out the assignments, and as each student read what was on the paper, their faces lit up with joy – well, everyone's except Aoko's. None of the teens around her were really that surprised, though. She made her hatred for Kaitou Kid very obvious. In this case, the class work they had to complete was writing a letter to the master thief.

Kaito snickered as he received the paper. He had known from the moment he saw the grandma-aged lady that the day was going to prove to be fun and interesting, and now he didn't even need to do anything to make sure that was how the day turned out.

Of course, Hakuba had to be a complete jerk and rain on everyone's happiness when he asked, "Excuse me, Kimiko-sensei, but what does this have to do with school?"

"That is a very good question, err -" the lady looked down at her clipboard, "- Hakuba-san. See here, class, these are the type of questions we need people to ask. How would you get somewhere in life without asking questions, anyway? Thank you for being a good example, Hakuba-san. Are there any other questions?"

Kaito stared at the substitute with amusement twinkling in his eyes and a grin aching to show. Adopting a straight face, he raised his hand and asked in a perfect replication of a girl's voice, "Um, like, Kimiko-sensei, you didn't, like, answer Hakuba-san's question. Like, why?"

The class burst into a fit of laughter - even Hakuba, who normally was a "party-pooper". Kimiko stared at the boy with eyes full of rage. "Do you take this school seriously? It's because of people like you that the other students don't learn anything!"

"Oh, really? I just thought that they were all idiots! Silly me!" He beamed up at her with very un-innocent eyes, the girly voice coming out easily as he batted his eyelashes.

"Do I have to send you down to the principal's, young man?"

"If you want. But believe me; this is better than my normal behaviour. Ask anyone and they'll agree."

"It's true," Keiko piped up.

"Fine, fine, but act up one more time and down to the principal's office with you!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

"What was that?"

"I said, 'Okay, I'll be a much better boy from now on'. Right, Aoko?"

"Don't drag me into this!" an irritable Aoko replied.

"Traitor!" Kaito whispered, annoyed. He turned back to the older woman, saying, "Okay, so that's not what I said. But I won't act like this anymore. Is that good enough for you?"

"I don't like your attitude, mister. But enough of this - get to work already."

Kimiko walked back to the teacher's desk and pretended to read a book, all the while keeping a sharp, eagle eye on Kaito. Rolling his eyes, he set about the task. Mumbling to himself inaudibly, he wondered, "So – what am I supposed to write? 'Dear Kaitou Kid, I don't really have anything to say to you since you're me. Don't get caught on my next heist! Sincerely, Kaitou Kid'. Yeah, that'll go over well with the teacher. Wait a minute... why did our teacher even have this typed up? Seriously, she had all the copies ready – was she planning on actually having us complete this? This doesn't have anything at all to do with school. Come to think of it, this is math class. Now I really want to know why -"

His murmurs were interrupted by a sharp tap on his left shoulder. Dazedly looking to his side, he saw Hakuba holding a pointy pencil. The other boy smirked, "I bet you're enjoying this assignment."

"What do you mean?" Kaito questioned, playing innocent.

"You know exactly what I mean, Kaitou Kid."

"How many times do we go over this? I. Am. Not. Kaitou. Kid."

"When it's your word against the evidence, the evidence will always win. Just remember that."

"Yeah, okay, creep. I'll remember that for if I actually do commit a crime."

"Like you haven't already."

"Hakuba, you don't like me a whole lot, do you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, if we were friends, then you'd be a really bad friend. You're always going around trying to find all this nonexistent proof to put me in jail - always accusing me of being Kaitou Kid and everything. Real friends don't try to put each other in jail."

"First; I never said we were friends. You're one of the most annoying guys on the planet. Second; you are Kid. We all know it. I don't know how you establish a good enough alibi, but once I break it, you'll be on your way to prison."

"Sounds fun. Maybe you should write your letter as if you're talking to me. Kid would get a real kick out of that, I bet."

"You would know."

Hakuba turned back to his work, occasionally tapping his pen quickly on his desk as he tried to come up with the right word. Sighing, Kaito turned back to concentrate on his own letter.

_Dear Mr. Kaitou Kid,_

_I am a big fan of yours. A question I have been wondering is "Why did you begin stealing?" Could you please tell me the answer when possible? Oh, and try to get Hakuba Saguru to stop accusing me of being you. As much as I look up to you for your magic tricks, I would rather not be put in jail for crimes I didn't commit. Your tricks are really good, though. Could you teach me some one day? I am an aspiring magician and always love to learn more._

_Your #1 Fan,_

_ Kuroba Kaito_

The boy leaned back in his chair, flexing his hands. Really, he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to write, since 1) he was the Kaitou Kid and 2) he wasn't sure if this was getting graded. If he knew that it wasn't, he would be free to write things like "Hello, me!" and "How's my next heist going?" For obvious reasons, he couldn't have the teacher reading that.

Turning his attention to the front of the classroom, he observed absently that Kimiko was still watching him. "What is wrong with that woman?" he mumbled, kind of creeped out. Obviously, she had nothing better to do and decided to weird Kaito out by staring at him.

She had pulled the first move. That didn't mean she had the upper hand – it just meant that it was his turn now.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kimiko Emi gazed slowly around the room, keeping one eye on the boy who had sassed her. There was something off about him, but she couldn't tell what. It was as if he had everything planned out seven steps ahead of her; like he knew how she would react if he said one thing and how she would react if he said another thing. It scared her how he could be so intelligent.

Turning her focus to her hands, she stared at them as if they held a hidden meaning. What was it that bothered her about that boy? _How_ had she come to the conclusion that he was "a lot smarter than your average high school student"?

She felt as if she was being watched. Glancing up, she noticed the boy-in-question's eyes boring right through her with intensity. Attempting to ignore it, she stood and walked over to the window to open it. The classroom _was_ getting a bit stuffy, after all.

Kaito rolled his eyes. Apparently the woman was a bit uncomfortable around him and was trying to ignore him. However, that was an impossible task. If Kaito wanted to be noticed, he was going to be noticed. He always had enough tricks up his sleeve to warrant that. Whether or not that lady did anything in her past to be so unfortunate as to have the troublemaker as a student didn't matter – her day was about to get a whole lot more insane.

He raised his hand. It was always smart to start off small. Try to pretend to be inconspicuous; it gets people less suspicious.

That tactic almost never worked. When a person knew Kaito, they always tried to steer clear from any communication between the two of them. Even if he had just met that person, they would receive a strange, energetic vibe from him that warned them to stay away.

Of course, it didn't work this time. That much was expected. Kimiko simply drifted off to another side of the room, doing busywork to pass the time. Sighing, Kaito resorted to a more noticeable strategy.

He reached into his pocket and turned on his phone. Flipping through the apps, he found the one which played his ringtone and turned it on. Immediately, a sharp, high note pierced through the air. All the students flung the hands up to protect their ears from the unmerciful pitch. Despite this, they all burst into a fit of laughter (except Hakuba, but he doesn't really have a sense of humour anyway). The annoying Brit threw an annoyed glance at Kaito.

Following Hakuba's gaze, the substitute teacher's eyes landed on the mischievous boy who she had tried so hard to pay no attention to. Storming over to him, she angrily glared down at him. Kaito blinked innocently, "Yes?"

"Kuroba Kaito, I would like to speak to you quietly in the hallway."

He frowned, allowing his eyes to water up. "It's okay – I understand. This relationship just won't work out. It's not you, it's me. I'm sorry!"

Falling into a pretend (but very realistic) crying fit, he lowered his head onto his desk and wrapped his arms around it. The woman, unsure of what to do, stood awkwardly in front of him, right eyebrow raised. Perhaps she had been a bit hard on him. By the way he acted, he was a bit special.

Putting her hands on her hips, she let out a sigh and apologized, "Kuroba-san, I didn't mean it that way. You were just making a lot of trouble and I want to talk to you about it outside."

He instantly stopped the crying. "Oh, okay. So we're still a couple?"

"I'm sorry, but we were never together."

Nodding sadly, Kaito got up from his seat and walked miserably into the hallway, followed by Kimiko. The laughter grew louder, and so as Kimiko walked by, she was unable to hear Keiko lean over to whisper to Aoko, "He's a good actor."

In the hallway, Kaito took the brief moments he had alone to regain his poker face. Even though his composure was well trained, being in such a hilarious situation for this amount of time was very straining. The frown was back on his face as the elderly woman finally walked through the door.

"Now, Kuroba-san, your behavior in there is extremely out of line. I do not tolerate backtalk from any of my students, no matter who they are."

"What do you mean? I wasn't doing anything wrong!"

"Oh, you know exactly what you did. You were disturbing the peace."

Kaito groaned. "You talk just like a police officer."

"Yes, I suppose I do. My father was part of the police force in -"

"London, right?"

"Ah, y-yes," she stuttered, taken aback. How had he known? "How did you know?"

"Guess."

"I am your teacher and I will not tolerate being treated like a member of an audience in a magic show."

"Actually – no, you are not my teacher. My teacher is at home sick or taking the train to Tokyo to see the Kid heist tonight. Also, this _is_ a magic show, and you _are _the audience!"

With a puff of smoke, he whipped out five juggling balls and started throwing and catching them. The numbers increased until he reached twelve balls in all. With another smoke puff, the balls were gone and he was holding a deck of cards out to her with a familiar smirk on his face. "Go on, pick one, any one!"

Kimiko folded her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes. She had been right earlier when she had guessed that he was different than other students. This was the exact proof she had needed. Pursing her lips, she watched him as he cart-wheeled around the small hallway while confetti somehow followed him wherever he went. Yes, something about him was definitely off.

Seeing that she was clearly not enjoying the show, Kaito abruptly paused his exciting activity. Well, as much as he _could _pause, with him being in midair and all. He landed swiftly and steadily on the ground before glancing at her again. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "You don't like magic?"

"Not during school hours, no. I warned you earlier, one more stunt and you'll be sitting in the principal's office faster than you can say 'magic'!"

"Fine, fine, I'll be good. I told you that already, didn't I? Or are you too old – I mean, I'll be heading back into the classroom now." He grinned at her with pleading, puppy dog eyes. The anger in her eyes faded and was replaced with almost out of character kindness.

"Just as long as you don't get in anymore trouble. Is that a deal?"

He was already in his seat by the time she finished her sentence, so she took that as a "yes". "What a strange boy," she murmured thoughtfully. "He reminds me of someone I used to know, so long ago..."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_ "Good morning, students. Today we have a new student."_

_ A young, blonde girl stepped through the door and was greeted by raised eyebrows and whistling (from the boys, of course). One boy was especially loud, as if he were just mocking everyone else. A girl to his left glared at him before turning her gaze back to the new student._

_ The girl spoke in broken Japanese, "Hello, my name is Kimiko Emi. I am come from England, Europe. I do not know Japanese much. It is pleasure to meet all you."_

_ The teacher smiled down at her before saying, "I am the teacher, Yukimori-sensei. We all hope you adjust well to life here in Japan."_

_ "Thank you, sensei. If me may ask, where are my seat?"_

_ "Next to Toichi-kun. Toichi-kun, please raise your hand."_

_ The loud boy from earlier raised his hand. Mentally sighing, Emi realized that it was just her luck that she got stuck next to the person who was probably the class clown. She sighed again, out loud this time._

_ "Hello, I'm Toichi. It's nice to meet you!"_

_ "Likewise," she stared down at her desk with a small blush on her face. The boy, Toichi, was pretty good looking. Back at home in London, boys like that never paid any attention to her. This new treatment flattered her, and she suspected that the small, fluttering feeling in her chest was a new crush forming._

_ For the rest of the class, she decided to play hard to get. Toichi would keep looking over at her with a different, weird look on his face in an attempt to make her laugh. She was determined not to do so, as she was afraid the new feelings that she was trying so hard to keep bottled up inside her would burst out and she would never stop laughing._

_ The bell rang and the two seventeen year olds parted ways. The rest of the day was spent doing mindless work in history, completing random problems in mathematics class, and proving one hypothesis after another in science. Overall, it was a boring rest of the day, so Emi was unable to stop thinking about that one kid in her class._

_ When the final bell had rung, Kimiko rushed through the hallways, jumping up and down in attempt to find Toichi in the crowd that was so large she couldn't see past the person directly in front of her. To top it off, in the midst of all the searching excitement and over all the loud voices in the hallway, she heard her name over the loudspeaker. Joy._

_ "Kimiko Emi, please come to the main office."_

_ Stopping as soon as she heard her name, she strained her ears to hear the rest of the sentence. Making out what she could of it, she began pushing her way through the huge crowd of people before stomping off to the main office. Whatever they had to tell her had better been good._

_ Walking in, she was motioned by the secretary to sit down; the principal would be with her in a moment. An uneasy feeling came into her stomach as she caught a glance into the principal's office and noticed the tired look on his face._

_ The man, Osamu Ryou, was in fact feeling very tired that day. He had just received a stressful phone call which put him in an uncomfortable position. Now he had a student sitting outside his office that knew nothing about what he was going to tell her. As much as the news disturbed him, he knew that the girl would be feeling ten times worse than he by the time they were through._

_ He stood and stretched before walking to the door. Pausing, he took some time to get his thoughts in place. Having his mind organized before this meeting would be helpful, not only for him, but for the girl – Kimiko Emi was it? – outside the door._

_ Inviting her in, she sat down cautiously, unsure of what the talk was going to be about. How would she know, anyway?_

_ The news came out of his mouth in a fumble of words. Ryou didn't even try to sugar-coat any of it, though as he continued on, he realized that course of action would have been better. The tears poured out of the girl's eyes as she comprehended what she was being told; she would have no father to come home to that night, nor any night at all, for he had been killed while chasing down a dangerous criminal named Jackal._

_ Lowering her head to hide the tears and her running nose, she quietly spoke that her mother had died earlier that year. Her nearest relatives lived in Beika, so that meant she would no longer live within the area to go to school at Ekoda._

_ Walking back to her empty home sadly, she realized that her first – and last – day at Ekoda High School had just ended._

"Yes, that boy certainly is just like Toichi... what was his last name again?" She mumbled, staring absently out the window. What _was _Toichi's last name, anyways? Try as she might, the name never came to her, and as she stared at Kaito, she hoped that it was not "Kuroba".


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kaito ran back to his seat as fast as he could in order to get away from the creeper of a teacher. She stared at him with empty eyes, as if she was recalling a memory long forgotten. The memory didn't matter to him – the only thing that mattered was that she was staring at him, and it made him feel like he was being examined under one of the microscopes they had in the science room.

The bell rang, and he shot up from his seat. He didn't need to wait for Aoko – he just wanted to get away from that substitute (who was currently going around the classroom and collecting all the assignments). She spoke to the exiting students, "I will try to grade these myself and report the grades to your teacher. Then, at the Kid heist tonight, I'll attempt to give these to him. After he's caught, of course," she said with a knowing look at Aoko.

They went through the rest of the day as quickly the first period had gone. It still confused Kaito that they had worked on that assignment in math class, but you could never be too sure of how a teacher's – or a substitute's – brain worked, so you just kind of had to go along with it, whether you liked it or not. If you didn't do as they said, then, as quoted from Kimiko Emi, "Down to the principal's office with you!"

Aoko and Kaito walked home together at the end of the long school day. Staring at the sunset as they slowly strolled along, Kaito commented, "That was a nice math class today."

Smirking at him, the girl retorted, "Yeah, you only got pulled out to the hallway once after a million warnings."

"That woman hated me; I could see it in her eyes!"

"Well, yeah. She was staring at you the whole period."

"See? She was out to get me!"

"No, actually – she was just keeping an eye on you to make sure you didn't cause any trouble. No offense, but you do that a lot."

"What, me? Never!"

She turned to look at him, and observed with a sigh of relief that he was grinning guiltily. You never could be too sure if he was being serious or not.

"Believed me? Ahoko."

"BaKaito!"

"Oh, now you're insulting my intelligence? Can't think of a better come-back?"

"You know that I'm busy thinking about other things!"

"Like what – oooh... THOSE things. I get you, I get you..."

"What – wait, NO! NOT THOSE THINGS!"

"Then what? I'm not a mind reader; I can't tell what you mean if you don't spell it out for me."

"The K-I-D H-E-I-S-T tonight."

"Hey, I didn't mean literally -"

Aoko looked down with anger. "Why does he steal? Does he just do it to make my dad look like an idiot? Does he enjoy raising my dad's blood pressure?"

"Aoko," Kaito said reasonably, "have you ever thought that maybe there's more to it than just you and your dad? We already know that Kid isn't your normal, every-day criminal. Perhaps he's stealing for some weird noble cause."

"Well, if he is, then why steal? When whoever it was said 'the end outweighs the means' or whatever the saying is - he was wrong! A crime is still a crime, no matter why the person does it!"

"But -"

"Like if a person kills another guy! If the dead guy was a criminal, then people may say it's 'okay', but it's still murder!"

"I agree."

"You just don't under – wait, what?"

"I agree with you. People who try to justify their crimes are still thieves, murderers, and everything like that."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to Aoko's house, where they said a quiet 'good-bye' and went their separate ways.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Walking into his house made him feel excited, even though there was absolutely nobody in there. He had some time to kill until nine o'clock that night, when he would have to dress up as Kaitou Kid and steal some red jewel called "The Dragon's Pearl". Whoever named that gem was probably a real idiot since the name was so dumb. Really.

Sitting down on the swivel chair in his room, he turned on Skype on his Dell computer. Clicking on a man called Konosuke Jii's name, he waited for the screen to load and the other man to 'pick up'. He had some things to talk about before the heist started.

The man didn't pick up. Glaring at the computer, he forced it off by pressing the power button and walked away. It wasn't overly important for them to go over the plans for the millionth time – it was more to reassure the old man than Kaito.

As he entered the kitchen, an odd scent met his nose. It was a bad scent, one that signified danger – at least to him. Twitching, he nervously walked over the refrigerator and opened the door. He was ten feet away before it even opened all the way.

It was as he suspected. That scary, scary food he had smelled was sitting right there on the bottom shelf. Why had his mom bought fish? Was it to scare him out of his wits or something? Or had he done something that warranted this evil type of revenge?

Running through the hallway, he flung the glass sliding door open and retreated into the backyard. A flutter of white surrounded him, and soon he was covered in warm, white masses. They were only a few of the pets he had out there – his doves.

Kaito had inherited his doves from his father after he had died during a magic show due to equipment sabotage. Narrowing his eyes at nothing in particular, he felt a few of the birds fly away as they felt his suddenly palpable, cold attitude.

Absently petting one on his shoulder – named "Nana" – he went over the heist plan once more to be sure. It just wouldn't do to be arrested – or killed – that day, since he had to receive those letters from Kimiko-sensei. Those would be fun to read (and make fun of). Cocking his head suddenly, he smiled as he imagined what Hakuba had written.

_Dear Kuroba Kaito (aka Kaitou Kid),_

_ Turn yourself in. Why do you steal? I will arrest you this time! I know you're Kaitou Kid. Turn yourself in. Why do you steal? I will arrest you this time! I know you're Kaitou Kid. Turn yourself in. Why do you steal? I will arrest you this time! I know you're Kaitou Kid. Why do you steal?_

_ With much "Why do you steal?" regards,_

_ Hakuba Saguru_

_PS: Turn yourself in. Why do you steal? I will arrest you this time! I know you're Kaitou Kid._

The letters were bound to be more interesting than that. He snickered and bounded back into his house, not quite caring that the police officers were going to have to deal with a Kaitou Kid that night that wasn't going to be able to contain his happiness.

Aoko walked slowly into her house, calling into the empty air that she was home. She knew it didn't really matter if she said it or not, since her dad was almost always at the police station at this time. Heading sluggishly up to her room, she opened the door and dragged her feet to her bed, where she laid down.

"How can Kaitou Kid steal? Doesn't his conscious bother him at all? Maybe he doesn't have one... it sure seems that way..." she spoke furiously at the ceiling light. "I mean, seriously! He acts like he's so cool and stuff, but really all he is a criminal that knows a bit of magic. That's it. He brings crowds from all around the world just because of that. Kaito and dad only think, breathe, eat, and shower Kaitou Kid! It's just Kaitou Kid this, Kaitou Kid that! How can people look up to him? How can Kaito look up to him? I always thought Kaito was the type of guy to be independent, to never want to be like anyone except himself..."

She slowed her tirade down, breathing heavily with anger. It just wasn't right that Kid got all this attention, and she never had either parent as she had grown up. Her mother had died when she was three, and her dad had been out all the time trying to catch Kaitou Kid. All the while Kid had been standing there, almost a world away, in his bright white tuxedo and stupid grinning trademark smirk. She hated that smile.

Getting off the bed, Aoko moved over to her desk and took out a fresh sheet of poster board and got out her trusty Crayola markers. Slowly writing out the words "Go Home, Kid", she smiled as she imagined him being so stunned by the detail of it that he actually stopped long enough for her dad to capture him. Of course, that would never happen, but that's the beauty of imagination – it allows you to think of the impossible.

Looking down at her finished product two hours later (no, she did not have homework), she smirked as she imagined the poster saying, "F*** You, Kid!" She had tried doing that once, but her father had seen the sign and ordered her to throw it out, saying that he did not want the whole world to know that she had inherited his mouth.

Rolling the sheet up, she tucked it into her bag and threw it onto her bed. She would get it later when she needed it. Leaving the room, she switched the light off and went downstairs – the light could be seen from the street, and if her dad came home and saw the light on, he would think she was doing homework and wouldn't allow her to come along to Kid's heist. Since she was the only person not supporting Kid, she had to make sure she was always there in order to protest, because she very obviously could not protest and make her point to the world in front of a TV screen.

Entering the kitchen, she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a microwave dinner. She didn't really ever feel like making dinner, so her dad and she almost always had those as dinner. Growing up in a poor household, it didn't really bother her that much.

Shoving the food into the microwave, she pressed the buttons and then pressed "Enter". She watched the food spin around the inside of the machine, but it lost its interesting aspect as her stomach grumbled. "Hurry up!" she demanded.

Finally the food finished cooking. Grabbing it like a savage, wild animal, she wrenched the utensil drawer open and took a spoon out viciously. Digging in, she was half finished by the time she reached the table. Needless to say, she was very hungry.

Food always made her feel better when she was angry. She had explained this to her doctor once, who then replied that when she is frustrated, she burns lots of calories. Due to this strange phenomenon, she gets hungry whenever she is terribly stressed and / or mad.

Tossing out the finished tray, Aoko walked into the living room and sat down on the couch and began watching the news. Whatever was on there would help her pass the time while she waited for her father to come home for a short break before the Kid heist started.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

All that was on the TV channels was Kaitou Kid, Kaitou Kid, and more Kaitou Kid. Distressed, Aoko threw the remote she had just been holding with disgust. That idiot thief didn't deserve the limelight – her father did.

Not to say that Nakamori-keibu went unnoticed through all the news reports. He was the head of the taskforce and oldest member on the team; of course he was going to wind up being mentioned. However, most of the time he was made fun of and shown on the TV as an incapable fool who was completely unable to chase after a criminal, let alone Kaitou Kid.

Of course, that was not the case. Aoko knew her father to be very smart – smarter than a lot of people in the world, actually. Often, when she was having trouble with her homework – be it math, Japanese, social studies, science, anything – he would be able to sit down and figure out the answer in a few moments. While he wasn't anything close to a genius (like Kaito and his father were), he definitely was intelligent, and didn't deserve to be called what the news reporters called him.

Over the years, Aoko had discovered that it wasn't the actual thievery that Kid performed that bothered her rather than the mocking of her father by pretty much everyone in the world. The stupid, careless smirk that was always pasted on the guy's face annoyed her more than all the rude comments people had ever said about her father - the grin that said, "Ha, ha, ha – you quack inspector! You'll never catch me!" Because of this, the Nakamori girl found that even the word "quack" irritated her beyond belief; even if the word was used in other context – such as to say, "Aw, listen to the cute little duck quack!" – she would immediately be put into a bad mood, and if she already was in a terrible mood...

Turning back to the TV screen – which had been playing through Aoko's mental rant – the girl stared angrily at the picture of Kaitou Kid that was being shown. Squinting at the fuzzy image (the Nakamori family's television was an old, cheap one due to money problems), she attempted to look under his top hat and monocle. Of course, it was even harder to see his face than in real life. If it was that easy to see, her father, who always got pretty close to the thief, would have put the other man behind bars a long time ago. It was too bad it just wasn't that simple.

Giving up on the hopeless cause, the girl stalked away from the room without turning off the television. Retreating into the kitchen once more, she pulled out a seat and sat down. A colourful object on the wall caught her notice as she did so.

She looked over to the wall to get a better look at it. The object turned out to be a picture of her mother. Frowning, she realized – not for the first time – that she had never really met her. She had been a three-year-old when her mother had died of a case of pneumonia gone bad, leaving her alone with her busy police officer father.

Slamming her fist down on the table, she looked down at the wood as her tears started to fall. As she sniffed in order to control her runny nose, she glanced yet again at the portrait of her late mom.

Other people, she knew, had grown up with one parent or another and had gotten along just fine. For example, there was Kaito – his father had died when he was nine, and still he performed tricks and went about everyday life as if nothing had happened. Of course, he had been sad for a number of years after the ordeal, but he was perfectly fine now. Most unlike her, he was not still wishing for a miracle to happen that would give his dead father back to him.

At least, that was Aoko's understanding of him. She was certain that, although his poker face was extremely well-trained and used it in almost every situation, he was not using it to conceal his ongoing sadness, therefore meaning that since she did not see any displayed melancholy, he was not mourning for his father any longer. In her mind it made sense, but the actual fact that he was indeed sad disproved her theory, though she was not aware of this.

Giving a final, shuddering sob, the girl leaned back in her chair and stared up at the kitchen ceiling. In her mind, she absently remembered that her father should be getting home soon, and as the thought stuck in her head longer and longer, she finally came to the understanding that her eyes were red and puffy and there were tear tracks on her cheeks.

Rushing to the bathroom, Aoko turned the cold water knob and cleaned her face. There was barely anything she could do about her eyes, but the tear tracks were easy enough to get rid of. Looking at the mirror, she made herself smile, and noticed that the odd state of her eyes was almost unnoticeable.

She left the bathroom in a rush as she heard the familiar sounds that told her that her father was pulling the car into the driveway. Taking the stairs by threes, she ran to her room and snatched up the necessary items she would need for the night in order to protest against the thief. It just wouldn't do to forget them that night.

Coming down the stairs just as Ginzo walked through the door, Aoko grinned at him, trying to put her strategy to work. The man, who had been around her for her whole life, wasn't fooled for a second, but since she obviously didn't want to talk about it, he didn't bother asking. She was a very stubborn girl, and wouldn't give in easily, if at all. Instead, he set down his briefcase and said tiredly, "Ready to go?"

In reply, Aoko nodded with determination. Reaching into the bag she had taken with her, she pulled an item out. "Here. I bought this at the store earlier today. It ought to help you out if he tries anything with that gas. He'll never know what went wrong! Throw him in the slammer, dad!" The idea of Kid in handcuffs brought a smile to her face. "Oh, and dad?"

"Yeah?"

"How close are you to figuring out his identity? I mean, do you have any evidence or anything?"

"Besides the strand of hair Hakuba tested in his lying laboratory, no - nothing else."

"Why do you say that about Hakuba-kun's -"

"Because the stupid thing said that Kid was a sixteen or seventeen year old. Kaitou Kid has been around for twenty one years. See the problem? Now let's go."

"But -"

"We can talk in the car. We need to get going now or else we'll be late."


End file.
